beyerdynamic Opus 53

I've been playing drums since I was 9 yrs old (going on 37). My first recordings are of my drumkit using headphones as mics on a old tube taperecorder with reals. My specialism is probably recording drums. If have recorded hours and hours of music (tape-cassette quality) in the 90' with a friend to get through highschool. Then came the 4-track and later the 8-track cassette recorders I used extensively. After that I joined a band and have been in and out of studio's on several occasions and observing their techniques.

My standard gear is a rig build around a MOTU 828 mkII. To have more then just two mic pre-amps I hooked a behringer ADA8000 up on the Adat-opticals (i/o) and to be able to work with more musicians at once I got Samson S-Phone headphone amp. I use MOTU DP 4.6 on a 1 gigHz powerbook (with a replaced hard-drive for more tracks) as my DAW.
Monitoring : Alesis One (active) and Beyer Dynamics DT770 headphones.

Type: cardioid pick up, small-capsule condenser (back electret) mic.

Because it only weighs 36 grams (made with carbon fibers) the plug that goes into it seems heavier that the actual mic. It does feel very sturdy and it looks like it can be thrown around. It is a budged mic, Beyer Dynamics has more expensive products of this type.

Sound: great for overheads, guitar cabinets hi-hats; toms; snare; jambe; conga's; acoustic guitar and I would figure that it would do very well on classical instruments (strings, flutes and percussion). in the mid-high and high range it tends to be a little aggressive but it does have a lot of low too (don't put it in a bassdrum). It handles floor-toms and low tuned drums very well. It's capsule is put into the Opus 87 as well, that's a condenser on a clamp which I primarily use for my toms. See my review on the Opus 87. I used to only have one (hi hat) but since they are not too pricey I have a pair as a spare overhead set. I tried to sing into it but it has a lot of trouble with being close to my mouth. It can't handle the airflow that occurs with the p's and the s sounds. I'm not talking 'get a plop-filter'

I did not compare the Opus 53 with a different small capsule condenser out there. For the amount of money I think you get a very valuable small capsule condenser work-horse. Do remember that here in Europe the US mics are not so cheap and vice versa. Even though the Euro is still strong a Studio Project mic available in the US for $199 costs ?265.